Why they can't sell only one electronic dictionary that contains all dictionaries? .

Is there any other difference (between 9700 and 10000) in hardware, than screen size? Maybe it's time to buy my first ED . I think that 9700 enough to me... Do JP amazon ship ED to worldwide? Or where I can get 9700 cheap?

Yufina wrote:Why they can't sell only one electronic dictionary that contains all dictionaries? .

Because nobody needs all dictionaries (and the electronic dictionary would be way too expensive for most people).

Honestly, I think the only thing you really need if you're at beginner or intermediate level is a decent Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionary, and perhaps something for looking up kanji, that's all... everything else is just an extra. My electronic dictionary - like most others - has tons of stuff in it, but 95% of it I never use. It doesn't contain the kenkyusha new J-E dictionary, and I can't say that I ever really missed it; the genius J-E dictionary serves the purpose just as well, especially for people whose Japanese isn't that advanced yet and who therefore won't be looking up many rare or difficult words anyway. Although I do have the Kojien, I only use it occasionally to double check things (and in the rare event my J-E dictionary doesn't contain the word I'm looking for)... but since the language used in the dictionary is pretty difficult, again I think it's only of any use to people who already speak and read Japanese pretty well. I must say though that (not being a native speaker of English) I am happy that I have the OED in there, along with the OED thesaurus which I also use quite frequently.

Yufina wrote:...Is there any other difference (between 9700 and 10000) in hardware, than screen size? Maybe it's time to buy my first ED . I think that 9700 enough to me... Do JP amazon ship ED to worldwide? Or where I can get 9700 cheap?

I found 2 more hardware improvements. One is the Quick Palette, located on the right edge of the display. This feature, on one hand allows you a faster navigation, but, on the other hand, takes out a part of the display size (so, the extra 0.2" of the display won't be used for text displaying).The other feature is the Action Sensor. This one (which can be found as well on the digital compact cameras) allows you to read the text vertically (the traditional way) once you rotate the screen with 90º.

Now, related to ordering from Amazon Japan, unfortunately they don't take international orders for electronics. But if you have a friend in Japan you can order the dictionary to her/his address (which is free) and then she/he will ship it to you through EMS.

I got a good price online for the GF10000, and I bit the bullet. My dictionary arrived today, and I've spent several hours playing with it. My previous electronic dictionaries were ancient by gadget status -- my most recent Wordtank is 7 years old (my collection includes the ID-7200, ID-8500, IDX-9500, and IDF-4500) and a similarly ancient Besta LD-9600 (Chinese-English) dictionary. I was disappointed with the Wordtank 4500, and I stopped buying electronic dictionaries.

But after I saw that the new GF1000 was released with a (yay!) kogo (classical Japanese) dictionary I wanted one as soon as possible.

The kokugo (J-J) dictionaries for the GF10000 may not be optimal -- I would have prefered the easier-to-use Daijisen or Daijirin to the Kojien, (in this sense, the GF9800 or GF9700 may be a better choice for non-native speakers than the GF10000) although the Kojien enjoys canonical status among native Japanese speakers. I had previously not encountered the Seisenban dictionary and am still forming my opinion of it -- however, having an additional kokugo dictionary can only a plus.

Because I sometimes forget kanji (and hanzi), I also sprang for the Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, and that installed with nary a problem.

Unlike the Wordtank model, the Casio does not include English menus (I don't understand why they don't -- this would be something easy to include) but for anyone with a moderate ability in Japanese, the Japanese menus should not prove problematic. Certainly, the ability to write kanji on the touch panel and look them up is a big plus. I am still working my way through the 200+ page Japanese manual, and I have not tried all the features on the GF10000 yet. (Note that Casio just this week posted a GF-series English "quick start guide" -- there appears to be no comprehensive English manual with this unit, unlike my old Canon Wordtanks!)

I'm afraid that I have not used other Casio electronic dictionaries, so my comparisons are based purely on descriptions on the Casio web site. I'm quite sure the GF10000 was the right decision for me, although I can certainly imagine that many people might find less expensive models adequate to their needs.

I am having so much fun with my new Casio that now I think I need to shop for a matching Chinese-English electronic dictionary to replace my ancient model.

I found a quite detailed review of the new Ex-Word Casio electronic dictionaries on the Tokyo Tsure Zure Gusa web site.Other than the larger screen, Quick Palette and the Action Sensor listed before in this thread, the review describe a feature that I was not aware of, which seems to be very useful:

True multi-dictionary search from a single screen - this works with English Romaji characters and can be done with multiple words to search through example sentences.With Japanese the multi-dictionary search works with handwritten kanji input or hiragana typed in through the keyobard. Japanese example sentences can also be searched.

I'm starting to think that may be I'll wait for the XD-GF10000 price to drop down to ￥ 40,000. As the actual price on Amazon Japan is ￥46,800, probably I wouldn't have to wait more than 3-4 months. (By the way, the XD-GP9700 price dropped already down to ￥30,300.)

Doug wrote:I got a good price online for the GF10000, and I bit the bullet. My dictionary arrived today, and I've spent several hours playing with it. My previous electronic dictionaries were ancient by gadget status -- my most recent Wordtank is 7 years old (my collection includes the ID-7200, ID-8500, IDX-9500, and IDF-4500) and a similarly ancient Besta LD-9600 (Chinese-English) dictionary. I was disappointed with the Wordtank 4500, and I stopped buying electronic dictionaries.

But after I saw that the new GF1000 was released with a (yay!) kogo (classical Japanese) dictionary I wanted one as soon as possible.

The kokugo (J-J) dictionaries for the GF10000 may not be optimal -- I would have prefered the easier-to-use Daijisen or Daijirin to the Kojien, (in this sense, the GF9800 or GF9700 may be a better choice for non-native speakers than the GF10000) although the Kojien enjoys canonical status among native Japanese speakers. I had previously not encountered the Seisenban dictionary and am still forming my opinion of it -- however, having an additional kokugo dictionary can only a plus.

Because I sometimes forget kanji (and hanzi), I also sprang for the Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, and that installed with nary a problem.

Unlike the Wordtank model, the Casio does not include English menus (I don't understand why they don't -- this would be something easy to include) but for anyone with a moderate ability in Japanese, the Japanese menus should not prove problematic. Certainly, the ability to write kanji on the touch panel and look them up is a big plus. I am still working my way through the 200+ page Japanese manual, and I have not tried all the features on the GF10000 yet. (Note that Casio just this week posted a GF-series English "quick start guide" -- there appears to be no comprehensive English manual with this unit, unlike my old Canon Wordtanks!)

I'm afraid that I have not used other Casio electronic dictionaries, so my comparisons are based purely on descriptions on the Casio web site. I'm quite sure the GF10000 was the right decision for me, although I can certainly imagine that many people might find less expensive models adequate to their needs.

I am having so much fun with my new Casio that now I think I need to shop for a matching Chinese-English electronic dictionary to replace my ancient model.

Dear Doug..... It looks like you own the Casio GF10000. I bought me one, last evening.....Could you please tell me how to go about using it. I would like it so, if you could help me with studying with flash cards, storing words and sentences, and also seeing a Kanji's stroke order....I've tried contacting you personally, but it seems you have turned of PMing. Please do help me out if you can....thanks soo much.

Hello, I'm a native English speaker, and I'm trying to use this (XD-GP9700) just as an English to Japanese translator at the moment. FInding it difficult to understand how to use it! Can anyone help or tell me if there is actually an English version of the manual? Seems strange to not have an English version considering it translates to English...

These dictionaries are primarily made for Japanese, not native speakers of English who are learning Japanese, so they generally don't come with manuals or menus in English. That is not to say they can't be extremely useful for learners of Japanese too, you just need some minimal understanding of the language to be able to find out how everything works.